Hinge connection



Jame 25, 1940.

A. BOENECKE HINGE CONNECTION Filed May 24, 1938 Inventor:

i Boerwc/k Patented June 25, 1940 HINGE CONNECTION Alfred Boenecke,Berlin, Germany.

Application 5 Claims.

My invention relates to hinge connections. 7

It is an object of my'invention to provide an improved hinge connection,or hinge, which lends itself to quantity production of some suitableplastic material, such as artificial resin, by a process of moldingunder pressure.

Tothis end, I provide a hinge member defining a bearing which is open atone side. In the constructional example which will first be described,this hinge member is subdivided into a pair of spaced-apart bearingmembers whose bearings are open at the lower side, and the two membersare made integral with the rear wall of a box from whose ends theyproject inwardly. Between the inner ends of the two bearing members, I

insert a mating hinge member. which in integral with the lid of the box.The mating member is solid and has two pins projecting from itsendswhich are arranged to enter the open bearings from below. A lockingmember is connected to the hinge member which defines the bearing. Inthe said constructional example, the locking member is a portion of therear wall 'whose sides are separated from the body of the wall by slotsso that the locking member is a sort of tongue which is connected to thebody of the wall at its root only and therefore possesses a certaindegree of elasticity. The locking. member is urged toward the interiorof the box by the mating member asthe pin, or pins,-on the mating memberis moved into. the open bearing, or bearings, and locks the matingmember by elastic reaction when its pin, or pins, is in the bearing, orbearings.

In the accompanying drawing, a box equipped with my hinge connection,and an independent hinge, are illustrated by way of example.

In the drawing Fig. 1 is a perspective illustration oi. the compleltle.box, with its lid closed, viewed from its rear wa Figs. 2 and 3 aresections, respectively, on the lines IIlI and III-lII in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 isa plan view of the box, with its lid removed.

Fig. 5 is a plan 'view of the lid. I FIg. 6 is a vertical section of thehinge structure, drawn to a larger scale, showing the method ofassembly.

Fig. 7 is a transverse section of the independent hinge. i

Referring to Figs. 1 to 6 of the drawing, U is a box body and D is thelid which is provided with a solid cylindrical hinge projection I2 in-.

tegral with the rearwall II or the lid in and" May 24, 1938, Serial No.209.795 Germany June 3, 1937 moulded with pins I3 and I4 projecting fromits ends, the free ends of the said pins being rounded as shown in Fig.5. The rear wall I5 of the box U is provided with a pair of mating hingemembers I6 and I! which are integral-with the said rear wall I5 and areadapted to receive the hinge projection I2 between them. The hingemembers I6, I! are provided with slots or recesses I8 in their inner endwalls, the said slots being open'at their lower ends (Figs. 2 and 6) andare adapted to receive'the pins I3 and I 4, the slots and pins beingaxially aligned so as to enable the lid D to swing about the axis of-thepins I3, I4. The hinge members I6, I1 and the cylindrical hingeprojection I2 form together a substantially continuous cylinder whenthe'lid isinpbsition -on the box. I I

The lid is maintained in position on the box body by means of an elasticlocking member 2| integral with the rear wall I5 of the box body, thesaid locking member comprising a resilient tongue formed by providingslots I 9, 26 in the said rear wall in proximity to the centre of thespace between the inner ends of the hinge members I6, I'l, so that themember 2| is connected to the wall I5 at its base only, as indicated bythe horizontal dotted line in Figs. 2 and 6.' The tongue 2| issuificiently resilient to enable it to. be forced inwardly towards theinterior of the box body. The rear wall I5 of the box body is providedwith a recess I 5' extending between the inner ends of the hinge membersI6, I1, the bottom of said recess being substantially tangential withthe cylindrical surfaces of the said hinge members, as shown in Fig. 4,the upper part of the tongue 2I being correspondingly thinned so thatits rear face is substantially level with the bottom 'of the recess I5.The recess I5 extends downwardly from the-upper edge of the rear wall I5of the box bodyvfor a suilicient distance to allow the hinge projectionI2 to pass below the hinge members I6 and I! and to be moved up-.

wardly to bring the pins I3, I4 into engagement with the recesses I8.

A projection 2| is provided on the rear face of thetongue 2|, the saidprojection having bevelled edges and being provided at its upper endwith .a cylindrical seating curved to the radius '01 the.

the projection II and the tongue is forced inwardly into the box body inthe direction of the horizontal arrow (Fig. 6) until the rear face ofthe'projection 2| is level with-the bottom of the recess II, whereuponthe hinge projection is moved upwardly in the recess IS in the directionof the vertical arrow shown in Fig. 6. n the pins II, It arriving attheir final upper position in the recesses II, the tongue 2i snaps backinto its normal position with the cylindrical seating ,at the upper endof the projection 2| below the hinge projection I2, thereby retainingthe hinge projection in position with its pins l3, ll in engagement withthe slots l8.

Referring now to Fig. '1, this hinge is equipped with plates 22 and 23,with holes 24 and 25, respectively, for attaching it to the lower partand the lid of a box, or to any other objects to be hinged together.Otherwise, this independent hinge is quite similar tothe hingeconnection described with reference to Figs. 1 to 6, and does notrequire any further description.

It will be understood that the hinge connection whose members areintegral with the parts to be connected, as described with reference toFigs. 1

to 6, and the independent hinge described with I reference to Fig. 7,have a wide range of usefulness.- The members, including the parts withwhich they are integral in certain cases, are made in a single operationwith simple tools, for instance, dies without slides or other movableparts.

Obviously, there may be as many bearing and 'mating members as requiredwith consideration of the length of the parts to be connected. Nor am Ilimited to the particular construction shown and described.

The operation of assembling the hinge is very simple and notwithstandingthe connection is very reliable. The time required for assembling one ofmy novel hinges is but a small fraction of that required for assemblinga hinge having the usual hinge pin. 1

I claim:

1. In a hinge connection, in combination, a pair of hinge members spacedapart from one another and having bearing slots therein in axialalignment with one another and open at one end, a mating hinge memberarranged to enter between the inner ends of said hinge members andhaving a pin thereon at each end arranged to enter said bearing slotsthrough the open ends thereof and a resilient locking member locatedbetween said pair of hinge members and integral therewith so as toextend into the path of the mating hinge member and having at its freeend a seating for the mating hinge member, so that on the mating hingemember being moved into position to insert the pins thereon into thebearing slots, the resilient locking member is forced back, said seatingbeing arranged to receive the mating hinge member on the latterreaching-its operative position with the pins fully home in the bearingslots, so as to permit the resilient locking member to return to itsnormal position and retain the mating hinge member in position.

2. In a box having a lid, a hinge connection for connecting the lid tothe box, comprising in combination a pair of hinge members integral withthe box, said hinge. members being spaced;

pin thereon at each end arranged to enter said path of the mating hingemember and having at its free end a seating for the mating hingemember,'so that on the mating hinge member being -moved into position toinsert the pins thereon into the bearing slots, the resilient lockingmember is forced back, said seating being arranged to receive the matinghinge member on the latter reaching its operative position with the pinsfully home in the bearing slots, so as to permit the resilient lockingmember to return to its normal position and retain the mating hingemember in position.

3. In a hinge connection, in combination, a pair of plates, one of saidplates having a pair of hinge members integral therewith,'said hingemembers being spacedapart from one another and having bearing slotstherein in axial alignment with one another and open at one end, theother plate having a mating hinge member integral therewith arranged toenter between the inner ends of the pair of hinge members on thefirst-mentioned plate, said mating hinge member having a pin thereon ateach end arranged to enter said bearing slots through the open endsthereof and a resilient tongue having its base integral with thefirst-mentioned plate and located with its sides separated from theplate by slots between the pair of hinge members, so as to extend intothe path of the mating hinge member and having at its free end a seatingfor the mating hinge member, so that on the mating hinge member beingmoved into position to insert the pins thereon into the bearing slots,the resilient locking member is forced back, said seating being arrangedto receive the mating hinge member on the latter reaching its operativepositions with the pins fully home in the bearing slots, so as to permitthe resilient locking member to return to its normal position and retainthe mating hinge member in position.

4. In a hinge connection, in combination, a pair of cylindrical hingemembers spaced apart from one another and having bearing slots there! inin axial alignment with one another and open at one end, a cylindricalmating hinge member arranged to enter between the inner ends of saidpair of hinge members and having a pin thereon at each and arranged toenter said bearing slots through the open ends thereof and a resilientlocking member located between said pair of hinge members and integraltherewith so as to extend into the path of the mating hinge member andhaving at its free end a seating for the mating hinge member curved tothe radius of curvature of the mating hinge member, so that on themating hinge member being moved into position to insert the pins thereoninto the bearing slots, the resilient locking member is forced back,said seating being arranged to receive the mating hinge member on thelatter reaching its operative position with the pins fully home in thebearing slots, so as to permit the resilient locking member to return toits normal position and retain the mating hinge member in position.

' 5. In a hinge connection, in combination, a pair of hinge membersspaced apart from one another and having bearing slots therein in axialalignment with one another and open at one end,

a mating hinge member arranged to enter be- 15 tween the inner ends ofsaid hinge members and having a pin thereon at each end arranged toenter said bearing slots through the open ends a thereof and a resilientlocking member located between said pair of hinge members and integraltherewith so as to extend into the path 01 the mating hinge member sothaton the mating hinge member being moved into position to insert thepins thereon into the bearing slots, the resilient locking member isforced back, and on the mating hinge member reaching its operativeposition with the pins fully home in the bearing slots the resilientlocking member returns to its normal position and retains the matinghinge member in position. g

ALFRED BOENI iCKE.

